American Tourist Murdered While Vacationing At Mexican Resort Town

Taylor Meyer was murdered in Playa del Carmen on Nov. 9, and his parents want to know what really happened.

Playa del Carmen, Mexico – The parents of an American tourist who was murdered while vacationing with friends in a resort town in Mexico want the U.S. government to intervene with Mexican authorities to help find out what happened.

Taylor Meyer, 27, went to Playa del Carmen with a group of friends to celebrate another friend’s 30th birthday, his parents told KABC. The group included fraternity brothers from University of Colorado.

He went out celebrating Thursday evening with a group of about 14 friends, but police have said he was alone when he was stabbed to death after 3 a.m. on Nov. 9.

On Friday, his parents received a call from the U.S. consulate in Mexico informing them that their son had been stabbed to death about a 10-minute drive away from the AirBnB where he’d been staying with friends.

"There was a 10 minute walk to the gate, the AirBnB they rented in a gated community,” Taylor’s father, Kris Meyer, explained to KABC. “His body was found 32 minutes walking the other direction and a 10 minute cab ride away from the bar."

Friends told the Meyers that Taylor had become separated from the group at some point.

Witnesses told police that Taylor had been mugged and attacked with a knife in a park not far from the famous beaches of Playa del Carmen.

His parents have been unable to get any solid information about the investigation, or the circumstances of their son’s death, from the Mexican authorities, FOX News reported.

Local police arrested one man in connection with Taylor’s death on Monday, the Riviera Maya News reported.

Officials said “Hilario N,” who goes by the name of “El Chemo,” had been arrested for the murder, but offered no other details.

Taylor’s parents said they feared that local officials were trying to cover up the fact that Taylor was stabbed to death in a tourist town by locals.

They said they believed Mexican police were trying to play it off like he was murdered by another tourist.

"We're afraid of this cover-up and we're never going to find the true story about all these unanswered questions," Taylor’s father told KDVR.

"We would just like the FBI overseeing and getting permission from the Mexican government to oversee this investigation," he said. "And so that we have clarity that we know that this is what really happened."

Taylor’s cousin, Tracy Goetz, told KCRG that they believed his murder was a random act of violence, and said that only his shoes and wallet were stolen.

Goetz said Taylor’s family is concerned that instead of getting to the bottom of what actually happened, Mexican authorities are trying to cover up the murder to avoid scaring away tourists.

"They don't want people to know that there are murders happening like this because then people are not going to go there," his cousin said. "It needs to be known that it's not a safe place to go. It's not okay to go and the Mexican officials need to fess up to it."

His father said he hoped the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) would assist the family in getting information from Mexican authorities.

"We want to know the truth," he said. "Good or bad, we can't bring Taylor back. We just want the truth."

There have been travel safety alerts for Mexico for the last few years.

The U.S. Department of State issued an update to its travel warnings for Americans going to Mexico back in March, after a series of shooting deaths in the popular tourist area of Cancun, according to KCRG.